# Looking for a novel for ESL students age 13-17 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182 "2011-02-22T02:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182/1 "2011-02-22T02:17:58Z")
Another teacher has been using Holes for several years now, and he’s getting a little tired of it. I want to help him find something so he doesn’t lose his mind. Requirements: 1. Appeals to both boys and girls. 2. No objectionable content. 3. Must have a movie version (even if the movie strays from the book.) 4. 200-300 pages long. Any ideas? The part that trips me up is “appeals to both boys and girls.” If anybody knew the answer to that, they’d be rich. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182/2 "2011-02-22T02:44:19Z")
Not sure of the length of these, but they’re favorites my mother has taught her sixth graders (12-13, mostly native English readers) over the years: Where the Red Fern Grows Hatchet (Movie title: A Cry in the Wild) Hoot For the older students: Dead Poet’s Society (is suicide “objectionable”?) Shoeless Joe (Field of Dreams) I Am The Cheese Whale Rider ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182/3 "2011-02-22T03:11:27Z")
[The Incredible Journey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Journey). There are two movie versions – the more recent called “Homeward Bound” and a 60s-era Disney classic with the same name as the book. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182/4 "2011-02-22T03:39:27Z")
Harry Potter is the obvious choice. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-for-esl-students-age-13-17/572182/5 "2011-02-22T03:40:12Z")
The favorite books of ESL 10th graders (at least based on having read several hundred essays on each) seem to be _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Of Mice and Men_, both of which have movie versions. Besides Holes they also like: Lord of the Flies that terrible short story “the necklace” The Pearl ( Steinbeck) The Crucible Macbeth Harry Potter To Kill a Mocking Bird The Coldest Winter A Child Called It …and a handful of stories I’ve never been able to identify 1. something about a bird that flies out of an apartment, has an adventure, and goes home 2. a girl brings ruin on her family in some Spanish speaking country by writing things in a notebook? 3. an elderly lady tries to prove she’s still useful to her family by helping out with the chores and kids, but her evil family members put her in a home where she quickly fades away. 4. a plucky young girl helps her neighbors get food during the depression, helps turn a vacant lot into a garden, and does some stuff with a library.